Falling Out and Popping Questions
by freecityy
Summary: FINALE SPOILRES-LL! Lorelai and Luke fight about babies and houses... How will she react to Rory's news? Will she realize that Luke the only one she can trust? Only two questions remain... COMPLETE!
1. The Road Back to Sanityville

**Disclaimer:** I own my Tivo. I own a few DVDs. I own my computer... other than that I own nothing. Well, I own many things, but none of them are also owned by ASP & co. 

**A/N:** Yeah, yeah, its my first fic. Don't abandon it though! Give it a chance... I promise you can recieve a refund if you don't love it. Now I just ditched all homework responsibilities and took about 4 hours writing this. And I had no BETA, actually I _have_ no BETA (wink wink, any takers?). So it was just little old me proofreading as I wrote, so excuse the errors, although I don't think there are many.

The fic is based on all spoilers for the finale (yes, I am a spoiler whore). So IF YOU ARE NOT A WHORE (spoiler whore that is) THEN DO NOT READ... I would never want to be the reason you abandoned your anti-spoiler beliefs. So... without any more babbling on my part...

**  
Ch. 1: The Road Back to Sanity-ville...**

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**

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**Eight thirty PM. Lorelai's car.  
Leaving FND (aka: disater from hell).  
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She was angry, she was crying, and she was driving. _So not a good combo_, Lorelai thought as she focused on the road in front of her, speeding back toward Stars Hollow. Through the tears and the darkness though, it was hard to see. _Focus Lorelai, focus._

_What the hell is that kid thinking? HOW can she just do that? Oh wait, no, wrong inflection—How can SHE just do THAT? After everything I've taught her, told her about those people, about that kind of life… She abandons it all... Yale, her career, everything she's every dreamed of since she was eight… me. How can she side with Richard and Emily over me? How the hell can those people side with her? I mean, if they signed some deal with the devil to go against every single word I say or else He gets their souls… I would certainly believe that this exact situation would be the only one when they would side with ME and forget about their damned souls—Wait, who the hell am I kidding, they don't have souls! _

…_To let Rory just leave Yale because that stupid Huntzburger man father richie boy told her, my Rory, that she "don't got it"? Who the hell does he think he is… Rory's had it since she was just a kid! And you'd think Richard and Emily would support the side for "education" and "achieving your goals"… God I feel stupid for even assuming that. Of course in the end they would choose whichever side would get Rory to marry a WASP, who cares about her dreams right? 'Cause we know she won't need those, or any kind of education outside Miss Manners. She just becomes some passive, mechanical trophy wife… it will probably drive her to become an alcoholic, too. Or maybe a pill popper. All of those women used "Mommy's Little Helpers" and every other Happy Pill just to get through the day with those husbands. GAH!_

_I always thought that kid knew what she wanted… and she would have gotten it, I know it. What the hell did I do? Did I even do something? Yes, Lorelai of course you did! You must have done something wrong… something to drive her to that. After all, she did give you a good old fat list of all the horrible things you've done to her over the past years… just pick any of those accusations..._ As Lorelai thought of it all, more tears began to form and fell down her cheeks. But, unlike before, these weren't "pissed off/disappointment" tears at Rory… they were "pissed off/disappointment" at herself.

Lorelai took a deep breath. She had to pull over before she hit something. She knew she had to either drive or think about what just happened. A combination of the two would only be bad, bad, bad.

When she saw the sign "_Stars Hollow: 16 miles_" she pulled off to the side of the road and put the Jeep in park. _I have to call him, I can't do this alone,_ she thought, almost against her will. Admitting vulnerability and uncertainty was something Lorelai Gilmore frowned upon. It was definitely something completely, totally, way, way, way out of character for her.

Lorelai grabbed her pink cell from her purse on the seat next to her and dialed the number, not even looking at the keypad. She put the phone up to her ear and leaned her head against the wheel and let the tears fall on her skirt. She didn't even care about the fact that she had just bought that skirt, having called every store in Hartford looking for it after she saw how awesome it looked on Jessica Simpson in InStyle. Well, she almost didn't care: _Crap, I should take it to get dry-cleaned tomor—_

"Luke's," her mental To Do list was cut off when Luke answered the phone at the diner. _He sounds tired. He's probably drained from work… and the fight, _she thought. _Oh! Right. Speak, Lorelai._

"Hey… its me," she said, sounding a odd since she was able to hold back the actual tears but was having a hard time controlling her voice from cracking and squeaking.

"Hey… are you okay?" he asked slowly, unsure of how to act before the little incident earlier in the apartment, "Are you already done with dinner?"

"Oh yeah… I'm done… over there… with them… and Rory," _Oh crap_, the tears were making their way down her face again.

But before she could continue, Luke cut her off, "Rory? What happened with Rory now? Is she okay?" he stopped when he got no response. Luke knew about Rory's little "escapade" a few days ago. He knew about the little joy ride she took with… Logan, man he hated that kid… in Mr. Fat Stock Broker Man's $3 million yatch. He knew that Rory, his Rory… Lorelai's Rory, spent the night in jail and Lorelai had to bail her out. He knew because Lorelai vented to him about it all, and of course he was there. How could he not be? _I love her after all, and she loves him…_ _at least I think that's what was established. _He swallowed hard trying to forget about that for a minute. _Oh great… I hope Rory hasn't done anything to make Lorelai more upset… She's too fragile right now, after seeing her in jail, and now, after our little discussion… Ah geez, she doesn't sound good, she sounds like she's been crying. Something must have happened…_ "Where are you?" he asked finally, now more worried than before.

Hearing his sincere concern, _And even after that—thing—earlier, he still cares. Well of course he does, you idiot, he loves you. _She did a double take for just a split second, _Right, he told you. After you told…_ Lorelai swallowed and continued, "Listen, Luke, can we just put our little feud on hold for a just sec, just for tonight. I need to-" her breath caught in her throat quickly. _Just say it fast before any more tears come out,_ "-I need to come see you."

"Anything. Do you want to come to the diner or have me meet you-"

"No, no I'll meet you there."

"I'll have coffee waiting," he said simply.

"Thanks, Luke. I'll be there soon," she said with a slight smile from his previous comment. Well, there was no smile on her lips, but her eyes shone a little brighter than the dark ocean-y blue they had been before due to the tears and exhaustion—emotional and physical.

"Drive safe," he warned her. And with that, she hung up.

She dropped her phone in the hammock that her skirt had created when it stretched across her thighs as it did now. She threw her arms over the wheel again and gently lowered her head them. She had stopped crying, _Man I have been crying a hell of a lot today…_ her eyes were probably all dried out. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, practicing her yoga breathing, _I just don't see how people can stand it, let alone how in the world it helps you feel better. _As the deep breathing, in through the nose, out through the mouth, continued, Lorelai re-played the discussion she had with Luke earlier in her head… one last time before she would start the car and go to the diner.

**xxxxxxxxxxxx****xxxxxxxxx**  
**Earlier that day.  
Noon(ish) at Lorelai's.  
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**

"You bought a house… that I am apparently moving into… and you didn't even tell me!"

"Well you took a pregnancy test and didn't even tell me!" Luke retaliated with just as much anger.

The two were standing in the middle of Lorelai's living room, going at it. And, no. not the dirty way. Lorelai was pacing up and down the hall while Luke leaned against the couch, placing his hat on the arm of it, "Luke! That didn't concern you-" but Lorelai was cut off.

Luke stood abruptly, "I'm sorry… It doesn't _concern_ me? Unless you had sex with some other guy and he was the one who impregnated you and that was his baby you were peeing on a stick for… which, if that's the case, then our situation is not lookin' too good. But… yeah, umm, if that's _not_ the case then it damn well concerns me." He stated firmly. Lorelai didn't react right away, just looked at him with that intimidating look she gives when she's really angry with him, usually when Aunt Flow comes to town every month, _But its not that time of the month yet… Maybe its just natural for women to get some kind of pseudo-hormones when they think they're pregnant… but then they're really… not._ At this thought Luke was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of disappointment, and sadness. But he did not let that faze him. He was on a mission: _make Lorelai realize how upset… no Luke, how PISSED OFF… I am, that she didn't include me in this! _"You have to include me in stuff like this, Lorelai! If the woman I am in love with is potentially pregnant with my kid, then I sure as hell have a reason to be somewhat _involved_ in the entire situation…" Luke's rant, or beginning of a rant, suddenly faded. He had realized what he let slip. _Ok. That was not supposed to happen…_ _Maybe she didn't notice? _He waited for her response, while panting somewhat audibly because of the previous rant.

If there was any change in Lorelai's appearance, then it was so quick and subtle that Luke hardly caught it. When Luke said "it" he noticed Lorelai's eyes pop open as wide as possible for just a split second, while her lips parted ever so slightly so just a thin black line could be seen between the two. But other than that, Luke was a bit taken aback that she did not respond in any Lorelai-like way. No witty response, no joke, no anecdote, he even half expected her to say it back. Luke was definitely worried.

If only he knew the immensity of the reaction happening inside of Lorelai. Luke could only see the slight indicating movements on the exterior of general shock. But on the inside, Lorelai's heart just about stopped. _It did stop… I felt it. _She thought,_ He loves me. I knew he did. Wow. I'm in love for the first time and he loves me back… God, can you get any sappier, Lorelai? He bought a house because he loves me and probably wants to do the whole "future" thing with me… and I want it too…_ Lorelai's face then shifted ever so slightly again, into a look of annoyance. But again, it was on the inside that the changes were _really_ going on… _That bastard! I mean, I love him, of course I do, but what a jerk! He's getting mad at me for not filling him in on some huge dramatic over the top out of this world change for US as a COUPLE, a team, partners… and really he's the one who is to blame here! I mean, I lied, well I kept it a secret for just a little while… but he's been planning this whole Twickam House fairytale… it would be nice, a nice little fairytale middle, not ending… No, Lorelai… He's been planning this for almost a month! Who knows, he's probably been planning it for even longer. I mean I know he's had the picture in his head since he was a little kid… woah. But then probably his wife never had a face… Wait. Ok, breath, you're fine. His… wife… never had a face. But I bet for the past few, yeah a good few, months it's been you're face! And he never ever even indicated it to you! Ever! And you've only known about the baby… sorry, 'maybe' baby… oh a rhyme… you've only known about that for a day! _

Oh man, she was going to let him have it now. She loved him, _Why do I have to love this diner man so damn much?_ …Of course Lorelai knew why she loved the damn diner man, but she couldn't let him blame it all on her. If they were going to work, they had to teach each other a lesson."Luke! It doesn't matter, I'm not even pregnant! That whole issue is, well… it's not even an issue! What is an issue though is that you bought a house for us! You bought a house for me. For me and you… For me and you to live in. Together! You bought the house that you've dreamed of having your whole life to live in when you've finally found someone who…" she stumbled with her words. Not wanting to look flustered by his sudden impromptu declaration, she took the favorable rant option, "You sucked up to Taylor… Hell, you freakin' worked with Taylor… Patty said he called you his 'right hand man' or something equally disturbing, but you didn't object to any of it… which disturbs me just a little bit on a different level, too, but… yeah, anyways, you put all your extra time and energy into getting on his good side and on the good side of those old… weird… freakishly mysterious 'Town Elders', who—after 10 years of living in this town—I just found out about! Man, they are probably Taylor clones, or rather Taylor's inspiration… wow, creepy," Lorelai paused when her head was suddenly filled with four little men, all of whom were probably only 4 feet tall, with long gray and white hair, wearing crowns that had little drawings of Stars Hollow's staples—Doose's, Miss Patty's studio, Luke's, The Dragonfly Inn—all carved into the gold. They wore long velvet robes in silver, midnight blue, burgundy, and maroon, each of them sitting on huge ornate thrones, _Ohhh I want one of those, maybe Luke can build me one similar_… and in front of them all, sitting on his knees and bowing up and down with his arms stretched out as far as possible, was Taylor. And he was wearing a toga. _What the hell? _Then he began muttering some kind of promise or oath or something over and over again… Something about Stars Hollow and… _Okay Lorelai, what the hell are you doing? No crazy day dreaming about weird townies while you are doing this with Luke! …Ohh, dirty. And gross! Focus!_

"Umm, Lorelai… are you finished or just taking a breather?" Luke asked, suddenly nervous at her far off, 'I'm not really here' look.

Jumping back into reality, Lorelai shook her head and responded, "Yeah, yeah I was just thinking of Taylor."

"Taylor?" Luke was frustrated now that she hadn't said anything about what he said earlier... She was thinking about Taylor, and he was quite disturbed.

Annoyed at his insinuation, even though she was not quite sure what he was insinuating, she grunted or yelled with equal frustration, "UH! No I was just thinking about the house with the thing and the deal with the elders… and Taylor just fell in there," Lorelai quickly explained, "Oh NO Luke, you are not going to accuse me of something again!"

She sighed to prove her annoyance and frustration, if it was not already obvious enough by the annoyed and frustrated scowl she has been selling him for the past ten minutes. But all of a sudden, she remembered what he said: "_The woman I love…_" and she instantly felt angry with herself for not telling him how much she loved him as well. She had wanted to say it for so long, but she didn't want to say it in a fight. She was almost a little sadden by the way Luke had expressed it, being the first time and all, she just thought it should be… more. But she had to tell him. She had to let him know she wasn't going anywhere, despite the huge mess they were both in together at the moment. But she had to reassure him of that. _I just wanted to tell him when everything was perfect and there were stars or music or lots of amazing food or when we were in bed together, after making amazing, amazing love, and we were naked! _

She sighed and took a deep breath, _You love him, he loves you. That's all that matters. As long as you love each other, and you are sincere enough, it doesn't have to be said during 'perfection'. _One more breath and… _here it goes,_ "Luke… this is really bad." _Ok not exactly the jumping off point I'd hoped for…_

"Yeah, I know. We're talking about us and you standing there thinking about old men," Luke avowed, clearly not understanding her meaning. Suddenly he dramatically cringes and runs a hand through his hair, "Ahh, geez."

Lorelai can't help but smirk at this, but she rolls her head down so her chin is touching her chest to hide her amusement from Luke. Once she can remember which direction she was going with her little 'speech', she picked her head up and turned on her Serious Lorelai face again, "Luke, just listen to me," she said softly, and Luke regained composure. He knew she was serious, "When I mean is that… okay. See, both of us are stubborn and independent people, Wonder Woman and… Wonder Man… if you will, and of course we will never admit that to ourselves, because well, we are stubborn. Umm, a mixture of two very stubborn, but also strong-willed, yet almost annoyingly independent people such as the two of us… they do not always make the most..." not knowing how to word what she is trying to say, Lorelai pauses, biting the side of her lower lip.

A little nervous, and quite unsure of where she was going with this, Luke took a small step toward her and asked, "The most what, Lorelai?"

She meets his eyes before closing hers and sighing, "They don't make the most harmonious partnership."

"We're not harmonious!" Now Luke was slightly angered, but honestly just scared: scared of losing Lorelai, scared that she wasn't happy, scared that he couldn't make her happy…

Immediately she took a step toward him and placed her hand on his forearm that was hanging loosely at his side. She never wanted him to doubt her happiness with him. _I did make it sound that way though, didn't I?_ "No Luke! I wasn't talking about us… per se… I just mean that if we continue the way we are, we won't be able to be fully content with each other," she's looking right at him now, but his eyes are on his hat on the arm of the couch behind her, _How'd that get there?_ And impulsively he runs his free hand through his hair.

"Luke…" she speaks softly, "I _know_ you know we have something special here…" at this Luke finally glanced up, only to look at her eyes for a second or two, almost questioning her, before he quickly resumes his previous big boy pouting, "Listen to me, you make me so… harmonious… you make me more freakin' blissful… than any other man has ever. Never question that, Luke."

_She isn't making any sense! She isn't happy about the house, she flips out over it, but then she says… that! _Finally looking up and keeping her gave for more than a few seconds, Luke finally speaks loudly, "I don't understand then Lorelai! You say that, you say I make you feel that way, but then why the hell aren't you happy about the Twickam house? I bought it for us because I thought we were headed in that direction. I thought you would love it. You could do anything you wanted to it, you could force me to paint the living room bright pink and blue with a big, fat gold band in the middle! I just thought-" but he was cut off before he could finish his last thought.

"I know Luke! I know you would do all that for me, that you would let me do that…" she was shouting now, "that you would let me have all the Charlie's Angels plattery I wanted! All the fluffy bath products overflowing the bathroom! I know you just wanted to give me all that, Luke! You are so unbelievably kind and generous and giving and I love you so so much because…" and as the realization kicks in, the yelling quiets down… "because that's who you are…" _Un-freakin'-believable! I wanted to at least say it when I wasn't in the middle of a shouting match with him! Great. Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap. Start a rant…_

"But like I said Luke, we can't keep doing this to each other! We need to talk about our feelings Luke, and if that is too Mr. Sensitive for you then tough! I'm your girlfriend and you shouldn't be embarrassed about that because that's what real relationships are about… its about expressing what you think and feel! Especially, ohhh yes, especially if you are gonna go drop half a million on a house for the two of us!" By now Lorelai has practically completely forgotten that she was supposed to just distract him from her earlier declaration, and has gone off on one full-blown tangent. She was pacing like crazy in front of him, not even paying attention to his expression, "I shouldn't have done what I did, I know that… but you have to understand—its not the fact that I don't love the house, but you didn't tell me Luke. You didn't bother to mention one tiny little thing about you even contemplation buying it! You snuck behind my back telling everyone! You told Taylor even! And I know he has a lot of authority with the house but still Luke… it's Taylor! You hate him, you despise him, and you tried to kill him with a frying pan! And you tell him over me? I just… this is just… we just…" And now, ladies and gentlemen, Lorelai Gilmore has finally looked up to see the look that one, Lucas Danes, has been giving her for the past three whole minutes…

Luke was staring at Lorelai, arms crossed across his chest. He had two huge eyes on her, and an amused smile stretched his lips up as high as they could go, defining his cheek bones even more so than usual… but was trying hard to conceal it… it was not working.

Lorelai was confused. Or she getting it, but was just pissed. Or was she happy? No, she was just confused… _Is he just laughing at me, does he think this is all a joke to me? Wait, he never even reacted to when I let 'it' fall out! What is wrong with this man? Oh wait, is this his reaction? No, can't be… he has better reflex skills than that… Why can't he just talk to me, I mean, I'm saying more to him than I probably ever have, well not ever, but in the far as seriousness and our relationship goes, then yes I am speaking more about that than I ever have… and he thinks this is a joke? Well, if that's the way he's gonna be…!_

"What could possibly be so funny Luke? You can't even be serious about this for one second can you?"

He was smiling like an idiot now. _She said she loved me. She loves me because… I'm me. Just Luke Danes. I'm giving, generous, kind… that's just me. And she loves that. And above all that, she thinks I still don't get it! Haha! She thinks I think its all a joke! Haha, if she only knew… But I get her now; I know I was a complete idiot for not talking to you, ok Lorelai? Yeah, man, just say that. And this time how about we give her a real 'I love you' that isn't in the middle of some pathetic rant of yours, okay buddy! Hey wait…_

Lorelai suddenly turned around and walked up the stairs, each stomp on the wooden steps louder than the last.

Finally, Luke snapped out of his little party in his head, "Lorelai, wait! Where are you going?" Luke grabbed the very bottom banister and leaned over a bit so he could get a glance of her bedroom through the railing.

"I'm leaving!" Lorelai shouted from her room as she began locating random pieces of clothing she would need for Friday night dinner.

"But… this is your house!"

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**Please help a struggling author out... leave a review?****Praise it or flame it, whatever you want, I'll take it!**


	2. Takes a While

**Disclaimer:** I own my Tivo. I own a few DVDs. I own my computer... other than that I own nothing. Well, I own many things, but none of them are also owned by ASP & co.   
**A/N:** So I wrote this one with the first chapter, but decided to split it up. But then I just posted it at the same time, so... enjoy! Again, no BETA, so please excuse the errors.   
The fic is based on all spoilers for the finale (yes, I am a spoiler whore). So IF YOU ARE NOT A WHORE (spoiler whore that is) THEN DO NOT READ... I would never want to be the reason you abandoned your anti-spoiler beliefs.

** Ch. 2: ...Takes a While**

**Previously**:

"What could possibly be so funny Luke? You can't even be serious about this for one second can you?"

He was smiling like an idiot now. _She said she loved me. She loves me because… I'm me. Just Luke Danes. I'm giving, generous, kind… that's just me. And she loves that. And above all that, she thinks I still don't get it! Haha! She thinks I think its all a joke! Haha, if she only knew… But I get her now; I know I was a complete idiot for not talking to you, ok Lorelai? Yeah, man, just say that. And this time how about we give her a real 'I love you' that isn't in the middle of some pathetic rant of yours, okay buddy! Hey wait…_

Lorelai suddenly turned around and walked up the stairs, each stomp on the wooden steps louder than the last.

Finally, Luke snapped out of his little party in his head, "Lorelai, wait! Where are you going?" Luke grabbed the very bottom banister and leaned over a bit so he could get a glance of her bedroom through the railing.

"I'm leaving!" Lorelai shouted from her room as she began locating random pieces of clothing she would need for Friday night dinner.

"But… this is your house!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
Back to Lorelai's reflection.  
Her and Luke, fighting in at her house.  
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For a second Lorelai stopped, realizing he was right. But then quickly resumed trying to locate her favorite new skirt. _God dammit where is that skirt! I just bought it, common… it can't already be lost! I spent forever looking for it… since I saw it on Jessica Simpson in this months InStyle… damn it looked so good on me too…! _"Since you obviously cannot be mature about this, then I'm leaving for dinner!"

Luke walked up the stairs slowly, sighing along the way. When he made it to her room he leaned against the doorframe and looked in at the mess. "Lorelai, its only four. You have another two and a half hours before you even have to leave."

But she wasn't paying attention to him anymore. She was looking frantically for her very new, and very expensive skirt. "Where the hell is it? Okay, I brought it home, took it out of the bag, took off my pants, pulled it on…" Lorelai was now doing arm movements to mimick the actions she describes, hoping to remember where she left the skirt.

Luke knew immediately which clothing item she was talking about without her even mentioning it. How could he forget? He was there when she brought it home, took it out of the bag, took off her pants… _My new favorite type of foreplay: watching Lorelai try on her new clothes. Although it is a little creepy when she says she wants to 'play fashion show'… Well maybe if I'm just watching then its okay… yup, definitely okay. I gotta remember to never bug her about shopping ever again…_ Luke walked over to the opposite side of the bed, Lorelai hardly noticed him even enter her room she was so busy, and he grabbed the skirt which was hanging off of the cushiony chair he loved so much in the corner.

"Is this what you're looking for?" he was still smiling.

"Yes," she grabs it from him with a still serious demenor, "Thanks… but Luke I can't talk to you right now when you're like this! I just have to get out of here for a little bit," she was in the process of, once again, taking off her jeans to put on her skirt. But dealing with fashion and emotions with men simultaneously is no easy feat… "I mean… ow… If you are just going to become mute and—ow—sit there, actually—ow—stand there," Luke grabbed her by the waist so she could steady herself… trying to give her space so she could easily speak and change her clothes, but still staying close enough to make it hard for her to be angry with him… "Ok, well um, thanks… just a second there… got it! Okay, now heels I can just sit down for so…" Luke removed his hands and took a step back.

"I just need to go do something… eat ice cream, work, read War and Peace… anything to numb my mind! I just… God, why the hell do I keep saying 'I don't know' today!" she was having trouble with her heel strap and looked down to fix it.

"Um… I don't know?" was all he could say. And it was done with a smile. He was still in his happy state of mind. _I can't help it. Damn… this woman, this amazing, sexy, smart, witty woman loves me. The woman I have been in love with, although subconsciously, for the past nine years. She… loves me._

"Oh, okay you don't know either, huh? Well that's inevitable seeing as how you didn't know anything down stairs in our last fruitful conversation… ohhh yeah, all the knowledge we both have about relationships really paid off there! I love you Luke, I don't know what I can do though to show you how much if you don't let down that protective shield you have and talk to me. I have, I let it down! And—I mean, common, we've seen my history—my shield was probably like 50 feet thicker than yours… with huge Dobermans frothing at the mouth, and a mote with flame throwing alligators for some extra protection! You have to talk to me Luke…" she said the last part more slowly.

Lorelai walked up to Luke, not having realized that by the time she was done with that little rant, she had gathered the remaining items she needed, her purse, lipstick, perfume, sweater… She walked up to him and placed a hand on his chest, unconsciously playing with one of the buttons, staring at it so hard she he thought she might burn a hole right though his chest. She spoke quietly, she sounded sad and hopeless, "If we can't do this, break down your shield, and the remaining parts of mine… I'm scared I'll never get to move forward with the only man I've ever loved…"

Luke's eyes widened once more, and the smile that was still remaining on his lips from the last love mentioning, grew ten times brighter than before. He put his large hands around each side of her waist and looked down at Lorelai, begging her to look up at him with her eyes.

Suddenly, he saw her put her forehead to his flannel covered chest. She brought it back up and did it again, harder this time. _Crap, crap, crap. Again, good one Lorelai! That wasn't supposed to be out loud you idiot! Wow, maybe you really are turning into Jessica Simpson, not being able to control the idiot things that just fly out of your mouth! _And Lorelai repeated the soft bashing of her head into his chest. And on about the fifth time, she stopped and sighed. Then laughed, a drunken giggle.

Luke was utterly bewildered by now. He had never seen her this… raw? This open? He liked it. But right now it was just too much for him. Not that he couldn't handle taking it. Its was just that he couldn't form coherent thoughts, let alone sentences… The whole "she loves me, I love her" concept was playing over and over in his head, washing out all previously learned… everything!

And then she laughed again, but this time it was more of a defeated laugh, "That wasn't supposed to come out," she said shaking her head from side to side, before finally raising it. She couldn't look at Luke though, but focused her gaze on the clock behind him… _4:38. Crap I do still have almost two and a half hours…_

"Here I am just saying all this stuff… and you're just… standing there, holding me, but not speaking to me. You help me find my clothes, you remind me that 'oh right!' this is my house, and that I'm two and a half freakin' hours early to Friday night dinner…" she sighs loudly, then turns around and walks toward the door of her room, and begins to head toward the stairs. "You know Luke," she says before she takes her first step down the stairs, turning around to face him, "Sometimes you can't let your actions say the things you are scared to say… actions can only say so much before you actually have to say it for the other person to hear it." And with that she began to walk downstairs, letting her hand hang loose at her side and glide against the railing.

"Lorelai, wait! I love you, I do!" He was now chasing her down the stairs, "Don't leave, I can talk now. I promise I'll talk, not just do that stupid action thing. Yeah, that's it! It was stupid, and I was stupid, and I'm so so sorry. Please just stay, stay at least until you have to go to dinner… until you really have to go to dinner. Just… don't leave me."

Lorelai reached the small table at the end of the stairs. On top, she grabbed her keys and hit the delete button on the answering machine, just a little busy work while Luke worked his way down the stairs and through the nervous rant.

"Lorelai, please, don't-" he was at her side now, but she cut him off and placed a hand on his cheek.

"Luke, stop. I'm not leaving you. I love you," _There that was better… but he still looks so scared…_ "We just need to cool down. I'm going to the Inn. I need to finish up on a few things, but I also need to think. By myself." He looked more worried at this point, not liking the 'by myself' line she just used. But she was determined to get this out, not giving into his puppy eyes, _God, his eyes… and he says I give him the pout he can't say no to! What about his puppy eyes?_ "And you Luke… you need to go back to the diner. You need to go back and tell Ceasar you're taking a break for the rest of the night and then you'll close up, okay? Just go to your apartment, and think about everything we… well I… have said in the past," she glances down at her watch, "Oh… half hour. Then close up, do a little… busy work… and then go to bed. And just watch some baseball or something. Have a beer. Relax. But I really want you just to chill, and think," she took one last breath and took her speech home, "I'm going to go to dinner, I'm going to come back here, and do the same thing. Except I'll probably watch a few episodes of Sex and the City for a little inspiration or something," Luke cocks his eyebrow at her, "What? It inspires the best of us, what can I say?"

Having almost digested it all, Luke swallows, almost hoping that would take care of the small remainders that would just not sink in, "So… am I not seeing you tonight?"

"No. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"And, you'll come to the diner?" he says questionably.

She feels bad that she has made him so vulnerable. "Yes, I will," she responds with a reassuring smile.

"And, we're okay?" he asks slowly.

Sighing, she replies, and takes a step back: "We're us, Luke. We'll always be okay. But we just need to figure out a lot of stuff to see where we can go from here. We need this," she says referring to the small 'quiet time' she has suggested.

"Yeah, um… okay. Tomorrow then?"

She nods at him slightly, and gives him a bittersweet smile before turning and walking out the door. When the door has closed, Luke leans over ever so slightly and picks up his hat that is still placed on the arm of the couch. After securing the blue hat on his head, he walks to the kitchen and opens up the refrigerator to get a bottle of water, before walking out the front door.

He was unsettled. _That's for sure… _he thought. His only optimistic thought: _She loves me, I love her. _But he couldn't help but think that, it wasn't just Lorelai, but he too would possibly never be able to move on with the person he loved. As he walked past the chuppah in Lorelai's front yard, he bitterly thought, with an just ounce of sarcasm, _I'm good with my tools… why can't I could use Bert to break down that damn protection shield crap!_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
Back to Lorelai's meltdown in the car.  
A highwhay connecting home and hell.  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Lorelai picked herself up from the steering wheel and focused back on the road. Her tears were gone now, but her cheeks felt stained from them.

"What the hell is wrong with me…" she stated out loud, although no one could hear her in the empty car. _Luke has always been there for you, Lorelai. You've known him for almost a decade… probably somewhere deep down inside the psychologically twisted freak show that is your heart and brain, you've been in love with him for maybe 4 of those years. You know how he is, why he is emotionally… handicapped… like you. With everything he's had to go through, his mom, his dad, his sister, and jess, Rachel, and Nicole… being betrayed and left alone… of course he is acting this way. He doesn't want to lose me, but he is scared that any wrong move he makes I'll just ditch him faster than I can say 'coffee, coffee, coffee!' And what did I do! I acted like a complete jerk! Insensative, heartless, bitch! Well, I mean, he was at fault, but so was I, and I just put it all on him for not talking. But I should have known. And if I was communicating to the fullest, just like I accused him of not doing, I would have seen my mistakes._

_God! Now that I think about all the silences and goofy smiles and the inability he had to form any complete sentences after… After he said he loved me, and then I told him I loved him… several times. He was just happy, Lorelai! And you yelled at him for smiling! Oh god… I really am turning into my mother…_

As soon as she thought that, Lorelai immediately chastised herself. She could not think about that until later. She knew she technically was not supposed to see Luke tonight, but she had to, and he didn't seem like he minded… _Maybe he's already thought about it. Well, he probably had something to say at the house when he saiddd he was ready to talk!_... Lorelai felt horrible about that.

After straightening out her hair and ruffled clothing, then reapplying the smudged eyeliner and lipstick, she turned on the car and moved back onto the road. The second Lorelai saw the sign "_Stars Hollow: 10 miles_" right above the sign for "_Hartford: 21 miles_" thoughts of Rory and the Friday night from hell flooded her mind. So, she blasted the Arcade Fire CD Rory had just burned for her. Memories of that night before the Wedding from hell, _My life is so freakin' hellish…_, came back to her mind again, so she switched over to Rosmary Clooney, and followed the highway toward "_Stars Hollow: next exit_" signs… all the while, thoughts of Luke were keeping her from crying, as well as relatively sane.

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**Please help a struggling author out... leave a review?****Praise it or flame it, whatever you want, I'll take it!**


	3. Almost Home

**Disclaimer**: ASP owns it. So, when I wow you with my brilliance, bow down to the proper master, the inventor of it all… I am merely a tyro to her.

**A/N**: At first I was going to write this chapter and the next as one large chapter, but I felt that the last two were a bit crammed together. And also, this way I can get you beautiful people a new chapter faster! Yeah! Right? Another thing—I cut down the Luke and Lorelai thoughts, as some suggested—so hopefully that will make for an easier read. Personally, I liked them, but I can see how that opinion would be a little biased. And you are the ones reading, so I thought I'd comply with your requests! Enjoy!

**And thank you everyone who reviewed!** You all seriously made my day--well days since I got many of them on different days. It means a lot, especially since this is my first fic and all, I definitely need the encouraging support!

Susi: I'm so glad you got a chance to read it! I know how you haven't been reading many fics lately... and it means a lot to me that you raed mine! Haha, finally I wrote it... took me a while!

ProFfeSseR: Its so awesome getting a review from you--I've been reading _It Doesn't Make Any Sense_ since you've started writing it... your writing is amazing, and I truly appreciate the comments you left.

that70slover: I'm glad you like it! _A Love Discovered_ is fabulous, you need to continue that!

Erica Bing: _"It'll me sane until the actual finale, heh."_ --Too true! That's actually why I wrote it! I don't know how the hell I'm going to get through the summer... maybe if I get a good amount of positive review-age on this fic I'll continue writing more. I already know exactly how I'm planning on writing the two ending questions (because of course you know what they are!) and I've already started thinking of the post-proposal talk. So maybe I'll write a little epilogue. Not quite sure though... I'm glad you love the story!

jeepgirl259: Ok can I just say how effing thrilled I am that you reviewed this? I'm obsesesd with your writing, you are amazing! So its just a big wow that you are so loving my work! Surreal... _"I'm SUCH a spoiler whore"_ --Haha, I'm glad my same whorishness is spread throughout our little LL-obsessed community.

mrschandlerbing: _"Where do you get your spoilers? I too am a spoiler whore."_ --More whores? Yeah! I get them from... god, everywhere! the GG spoiler thread at fanforum... the Kristin and Ausiello weekly spoiler columns... Lol, no self control I tell you! I'm glad you like the story, and don't worry it will all be up by Sunday! Cuz what's the point in a spoiler fic if its not all posted _before_ the ep actually airs?

Emmzy-Lou: Ahh, another spoiler fic queen! Loved _Life, Love & Waltzing_... fabulous fic. Here's another update for you! I'm happy you like this little story of mine.

Snowlight24: I'm so freakin' glad you love it! I love your enthusiasm about this, its putting a huge freakin' smile on my face!

Masamor99: I'm loving the persistance you have! Here's the damn update for you! Hehe, I hope it satisfies your needs for 12 hours before I post another--yes, another. I'm very speedy Gonzales--chapter, the final one!

Ogue: Thank you! _"It feels as though you have their voices down."_ --I love you for that! I was a little unsure about how IC I was/am... everyone I asked said I was right in tune with it all, but then some said that it was a little TOO in tune, as in too much inside thought... but you totally relieved me of this insecurity... thank you!

SP'sGirl: I'm glad you liked the ILYs! Yeah, I thought it was a good way of having them say it as well. As partial I am to the fluffy ILYs, since I was actually basing it on spoilers, I wanted it to be as in character or in ASPs mindset as possible. Hopefully I did a good job with that. And I really hope they do say ILYs that way for the first time, then of course talk about it and elaborate. It just seems very Luke and Lorelai to have it mid-rant. Am I right or am I right, huh!

And **thank you** to all the others!

_I'll have the next and FINAL chapter up by tomorrow. Now read, and be happy!_

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**  
Ch. 3: Almost Home  
**

Lorelai drove into a deserted Stars Hollow shortly after 10PM. Her eyes itched with dryness. She had stopped crying completely only about 15 minutes outside of town, only because she focused all her energy on getting to Luke and entering his comforting embrace.

The town was dark: the stores were darkened, the sky was covered over with clouds… she had even spotted two street lamps that were not illuminating the town. Other than the small holes between the clouds that allowed the moonlight through, the only light protruding from the town came from the diner. _Of course, he's always there to show me the way. _Lorelai chuckled sarcastically at her corniness.

She slowed down as she pulled into to "her" parking spot across the street from Luke's. She watched him intently as he refilled the coffee machine, putting just enough in for one pot full… her pot. Lorelai smiled at his thoughtfulness. _Yup… always taking care of me._ She was just about to turn away and walk in when Luke seemed to trip over something—something she did not know of since it was hidden behind the counter—which caused him to spill most of the pot of water on his flannel. Once again this made her giggle, _Your daughter is dropping out of Yale! Why are you laughing?_ She looked over at him again, as he refilled the pot before putting it under the machine, and then removing his flannel… Lorelai could see him mouthing explicit words as he did so, exposing his olive green tee shirt that did an exceptional job of outlining his built form…_ Ahh, yes… that's what's making you happy_, Lorelai thought to herself briefly, but soon chastised herself silently for being happy at a time like this.

Lorelai decided that she was ready for a Luke hug right now, desperately needing his arms and warmth engulfing her drained body. With a deep breath, Lorelai opened the car door, swung her legs around, and hopped out. Despite their unresolved discussion about houses and babies and whatever the hell else it was… _He said he loved me… I told him I loved him…_ She recognized the fact that, since she had said those words, since the words were said to her, it seemed that a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders… her heart seemed lighter. As she walked quickly though the nippy air to the illuminated coffee filled, hunky diner man infested establishment, she couldn't help but cringe at the fact that they had finally admitted these feelings in the middle of… whatever it was they were in the middle of earlier.

But Lorelai did not want to discuss that whole ordeal now. If anything she could only speak about the Rory debacle, if even that… or rather if Luke could coax it out of her. She needed him to console her, she needed his guidance, she needed some light shed upon the sudden turn of events.

Lorelai placed her hand on the cool metal doorknob and paused briefly outside the door, still watching Luke's back as he fussed with the coffee machine. One final deep breath, _It's fine now, you can go in, you know he will be as wonderful as he always is, Lorelai. Just breath. And for God's sake…! Do not revert to that bitchy and beratey Lorelai Gilmore you were to Luke earlier… let him talk to you. It will help, you know it. He always is able to calm you down, and if he's not the one doing it, then his coffee sure as hell will._ She wanted to cry again, but no tears could work their way into her dry, dry, dry eyes. She felt betrayed… betrayed and blamed. This thought made her feel small and disempowered, and Lorelai Gilmore did not like feeling either one of those sad and pathetic adjectives.

_You love him… you can trust him._ And with that hope, she turned the doorknob.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The jingle of the bell above the door caused Luke to quickly turn around and face Lorelai. Since he gotten off the phone with her nearly 45 minutes ago, his heartbeat would not slow down. He knew there was something wrong, and it made him nervous thinking about Lorelai driving down the darkened highway, while her mind was dealing with the jumble of emotions that resulted from the unknown problem.

Lorelai stood still, facing him after closing the door, a look of complete defeat washed over her face. Her shoulders sagged, her pout was full, but unintentional, and her arms fell at her sides as her fingers pinched and pulled the silky material of her dress nervously. _This is definitely not good… _Luke thought, and without letting another second go by, he immediately took three giant steps across the diner and surrounded her slender frame with his protective arms.

"Hey," she whispered into his neck. Her voice wasn't shaky but not in any way confident. It was steady but doubtful.

"Hi," Luke responded just as quietly and gave her a gentle squeeze. As he felt her squeeze him back and readjust her arms tighter around him, he placed a hand on the back of her head and pressed his lips to her temple. Luke felt Lorelai's body suddenly relax at this, and she breathed warmly against his skin.

Wordlessly they stood in the empty dinner for what seemed like hours, Luke soothing Lorelai's upper back with one hand and playing with individual ringlets of her hair with the other. Lorelai, on the other hand, left her arms gripping his cotton shirt around his midsection, and her head on his chest, tucked under his chin.

Another relieving exhale, "How do you do this to me?" she asked, still whispering.

"Do what?"

She leaned back slightly in his arms and gazed up at him, "Get me to stop and breath when everything seems to be crashing down in my life…" she said with a tired chuckle.

_At least I know I've done something to help her tonight… _Luke thought and replied knowingly with a smile, "Oh…" he said before placing another tender kiss on her temple, attempting again to soothe the inevitable headache from the infamous Friday night dinner, "…that."

"Yes, that," she said smiling up at him. Her surprisingly happy demeanor suddenly turned contrite, "I'm sorry Luke... Earlier today--I'm so sorry. I never should have--"

But Luke quieted her by cupping one side of her head while brushing her cheek soothingly with his thumb. He then said earnestly, "Lorelai… we don't have to talk about that now. We're good—we're better than good… so don't worry about it, we'll have plenty of time for it later." He paused briefly before continuing, "Whatever happened tonight at dinner... you can tell me about it. I mean, if you need to. I'm here. Just... you don't need to worry about us, okay?"

Lorelai was in awe of his extreme sincerity. _If I wasn't already so completely infatuated and head over Manolos in love with this man…_ She sighed audibly at this thought. _There is no way I could love any one person more than I do at this moment…_

"How about some coffee," Lorelai's eyes widened at this and for the first time that night, her gorgeously shocking, trademark smile appeared. _Nope, I was wrong... it is definitely possible for me to fall more in love with one Luke Danes._

Lorelai's obvious cheer-uppance only lead Luke to further his offerings out of sheer happiness, "And maybe some boysenberry pie?"

And if that smile could possibly get any brighter, it did at that moment. She nodded slightly before closing her eyes and sighing, then resting her head on his chest for a second… _Wow, this flannel-less deal of his—I like—this shirt is so thin its almost like my favorite Shirtless!Luke is the middle of the diner._ She inhaled his scent deeply before she looked up into his eyes again, "You're too good to me, Luke, really."

She said it with such emotion, it almost made Luke drop the question he'd been wanting to ask ever since she'd avoided responding to it the first time on the phone earlier. But he suppressed the urge, knowing full well she needed her coffee and pie to console the little bit of Lorelai he could not. _You could do anything and everything, but there will always be room for a little coffee and pie consolation._ Luke would remind himself of this frequently, and did so before giving her a last squeeze and pulling out the closest chair for her to sit down in, before walking behind the counter to get what he promised.

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**Read and review**, darlings... You know you want to, all the cool kids are doing it... 


	4. Everything in Time

**Disclaimer**: ASP owns it. So, when I wow you with my brilliance, bow down to the proper master, the inventor of it all… I am merely a tyro to her.

**A/N**: The end has come… and the real end is quite near. Am I the only one who is not wanting Tuesday to come? That means the end for 3 whole months! I don't know how I will handle that… maybe it wasn't so good writing this fic then! Only bringing the great event much earlier! Well, I hope you enjoy this. I promised you you would have it by today, so here it is. I spent probably 4 hours just writing this chapter. Man it was hard! So please read and review… I really truly hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I swear, I almost had a few tears form just from writing this! Enjoy, enjoy!

And again thank you to all my reviewers—it really means the world to me that you took the time to review! I'm glad you all like the story. Your comments definitely helped me get through this long long chapter… haha.

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**Ch. 4: Everything in Time**

Luke was about to bring Lorelai a large cup of coffee and one large piece of boysenberry pie. _This should last her a while... wait, who am I kidding?_ Luke stopped and cut another piece of pie before walking back to her. Lorelai watched him from her spot at the table and smiled when she saw Luke rethink the pie quota he was about to deliver.

_God, I love him…_ Being able to say it without hesitation, even though it was in her head, made Lorelai tear up for the first time since her meltdown on the road earlier.

But tearing up this time was different. This time it wasn't out of anger for her parents, it wasn't out of frustration with Rory, and not out of disappointment with herself—all situations which would make her eyes red with flowing tears, and turn a gloomy shade of indigo blue. Nope, this time the tears made her eyes glitter and caused the color to turn more crystal blue than ever—an aspect of her that can only be caused by Luke love. And not in a dirty sense… although sometimes it was… but more in a shocking way, in an inspirational way, whenever she has some mind blowing revelation in their relationship… _And all of this from pie? Wow… I must have it bad for this man… or maybe, maybe he's just really good… _What a quandary.

"Hey…" Luke said soothingly, startling her from her thoughts as he placed the pie and coffee down in front of her, "Don't cry, babe."

"I'm not, promise. Happy tears, I swear…" she looked up at him with a small smile, "Oooh, boysenberry, my fave!" she said softly before she scooped up a piece of the pie, but then did not bring the fork to her lips. She stopped, halfway between the plate and her mouth when she realized she was—"Not hungry?" Luke said, completing her exact thought.

The fact that it was so natural for him to do so, was just so... Luke. _Again with the tears! God dammit Lorelai! Are you sure you're not pregnant because you're acting like a crazy hormonal woman…_ She tensed up, _You're not pregnant—your Ovearian Operating System was just rebooted… yesterday at the hospital! So… no blaming it on that…_

Lorelai tried her best to suppress the tears, but there was no getting past Luke. He sat down in the chair next to her and turns around to face her. Lorelai's chair was slid in perfectly perpendicular to the table, and she sat upright facing straight ahead. Luke turned his chair half way around to face her side, letting his knees brush against her half covered thigh and placing an arm around the back of her chair. He let his hand graze over her opposite shoulder.

She glanced over at him, again with a slight smile, _I may be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but he always is able to pull me back from jumping off the cliff with his words… he deserves the smile at least, _"Nope, not hungry. Maybe in a bit."

She sighed and returned to face straight ahead. After a minute of silence, Lorelai reached over and placed her right arm over his legs, intertwining her fingers with his as she grabbed his hand resting in his lap. She sighed deeply before shifting slightly in her seat.

"She's leaving Yale," she admitted softly. Lorelai knew he would be angry—_Luke has always been so involved in her life, in her education…_ The thought made her suddenly more sad, having to admit Rory's sudden _change_ to him, the man who had gone to Rory's graduation, had even cried during her Valedictorian speech, who had helped move her stuff to Yale, back home, and then back again.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his perfect coloring pale in its… well… perfect color, "What—um…, who is leaving Yale?" he said in an incredulous tone, knowing full well but not accepting the fact until he hears _her_ name and "leaving Yale" in the same sentence.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. She replied sarcastically, "Natalie Portman is leaving Yale! Oh no, wait, she graduated like two years ago or something…"

"Lorelai…" Luke said warningly.

"Rory, Luke. Rory is leaving Yale."

And that's all the confirmation he needs—Luke gives her a slight squeeze on her shoulder and stands himself up, using his knees to push off from. He quickly walks over to the diner door and vigorously locks the doors two bolts, gives it a good tug making sure not even Hulk-like pulling will not open it, pulls down the blinds, and finishes by dragging one of the tables in front of the entrance, pushing it right up next to the door.

Lorelai was bewildered. She didn't know whether to be scared or amused. His back still facing her, he dropped his head and took a sharp breath in, and turned around. Lorelai noted that his perfect color that had just so recently gone pale, was now red… _like the fires of Mordor, _she thought inwardly. _So this is what Lane was talking about during… during our… dark period._

"Luke, hun… um—what the hell was that?"

Luke walked back over to Lorelai and sat down forcibly in his chair. She turned to him as he sat down.

His face still red as crazy-people-with-tons-of-rage could be, he said nonchalantly, "That," he points to the door, "is so when you tell me why…" stopping to say the words, and instead attempting to use his hands to symbolize Rory dropping out of Yale, but only ending up with a flick of his wrist and a clap of his hands, "that table, and the locks will give you time to pull me back and stop me from going and hurting whatever moron has influenced this."

Lorelai gave raised an eyebrow to him. _On second though…_ "Umm, but in the case of Richard or Emily, it will just stop me from going over there and… _explaining_… to them why this is crazy."

Lorelai just stared at the huge obstacle he placed between the outside world and the two of them, "and what's with the blind closing?"

The "anger red" on Luke's face and neck seemed to lighten up a bit into a more "blushing red" before he spoke. "Um, I'm not sure… it just seemed right. Privacy from Stars Hollow seems necessary at a time like this," Luke said sincerely.

Lorelai smiled slightly, "Thank you."

But Luke needed to know now before he exploded, "Lorelai, what happened? What happened tonight?"

"Well, today when we went to Weston's—Rory and I—she told me…" she took a breath. She knew she couldn't cry any more about the situation, but she felt exhausted and emotionally drained. Luke, knowing this, placed a hand on her hip as he faced her and she faced him, reassuring her that he was there.

"God, I can't even remember what she told me. I just remember there being a weird tension between us. At first I rationed that it was because of her little Bonny and Clyde stint with Logan… I thought she was just stressed and guilt-ridden and all… but then she just dropped it on me. She just said it—as if she was declaring 'I'm not going to buy that cute bathing suit you said I should get but I put it on hold instead…'—knowing full well I'd be pissed but not really giving a damn because her mind was already set. And as soon as she said it, I just lost it…" Lorelai paused, _breathing is necessary when telling this story, remember that for future reference_, she noted before taking the necessary breath.

Luke again squeezed her hip again. He grabbed her hand with his free one resting it in her lap, trying as hard as possible to relax her. Lorelai continued while looking down, playing with his calloused but velvety fingers, "I said things, she said things… it was awful Luke."

She looked up at him again, "Anyways… we both left, separately. At the time I just thought she was going to see Logan or Lane or someone… I just expected that she wouldn't show up for dinner at the Gilmore's… But she went—well… first, um, I went early to my parents house… maybe an hour before dinner. I thought they would without a doubt help me, see my defense… But when I got there, they called me into the living room… they were very serious, which kind of freaked me out. They sat me down, and right as I was about to open my mouth, to explain to them the audacity of it all, persuade them to help me get back in there… they told me that—" Lorelai swallowed, but the tightness of her throat hardly allowed it. Slowly, the sadness tears formed in her eyes, fogging them of their clarity, and tricked down her cheek.

Luke let Lorelai continue, _As much as you wanna hug her right now, kiss her, take the pain away, just let her do it…_ He knew she needed to let it out, so he rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand and let her go on… "They told me that Rory showed up sometime after our Weston's bitch fight. She explained it to them, told them she needed it, needed this opportunity to regroup and find some new dream or goal or something… to get out of her old—her old ways…" Lorelai was able to choke this last part out. The tears had not gotten worse, but they continued at the same pace.

Luke could not believe what she was saying… he simply could not stand seeing this woman, the love of his life, _Self-proclaimed Wonderwoman for Christ's sake!_, he thought—seeing her so distressed and vulnerable. He leaned from his seat, allowing Lorelai's legs to go in between his as he slid forward. He placed his hands on her stomach, allowing his fingers to soothe the knots he knew were inside, and placed a tender kiss on her jaw line… and then one on her forehead. He let his lips remain there as he soothed her, "I'm here, Lorelai. Don't worry, I'm here…"

The words seemed to help as Lorelai's crying ceased. _Just the way he says it—he's here for me. He's the only one now… He really is the only constant in my life._

He brought his eyes down to look at Lorelai and gave her a reassuring smile, one that she returned, before sliding back into his seat and waiting for her to continue. _Wow, I really didn't think it would help that much… at least she's stopped crying…_ It's not that Luke felt uncomfortable in any way around a crying Lorelai, he loved her in any form, it was that Luke couldn't stand to see her so defeated.

Lorelai found the strength from Luke's actions and continued, "I don't know exactly how they reacted to her news though… they seemed to be pretty firm on the idea. They told me that the plans had changed, that their plans had changed… but who the hell cares about my plans, right? I mean, I'm sure they must have been upset, but how they can just let live there…"

"Live where?" Luke quietly interrupted.

"Oh, well, Rory wasn't there with them when they told me…" Luke's eyes widened with this news, but Lorelai explained, "She was outside, in the pool house, moving in!" Lorelai admitted with animosity.

"She what!" Luke was starting to remember his red "fires of Mordor" face from before… but Lorelai continues, "I couldn't take it. I couldn't hear any more from them. What were they expecting me to do? Stay and have lamb while my daughter moves in outside? I just had to get out of there…"

She looks down at Luke's hands again and nervously picks up his fingers one by one, "So I left… But, I don't know why… maybe I just couldn't believe that my baby girl, my Rory, had actually gone to her grandparents for help—she's always come to me, we've always been able to work everything out—so I walked out the back door and out through to the pool…"

Lorelai sighed and looked up, "I just stood there Luke, looking in through the window, watching her put her books on the shelf… I couldn't believe it—well, actually at that moment I truly could believe that it was all happening."

She was suddenly very thirsty from her long venting session, so she took a long sip of the lukewarm coffee. _Hehe, lukewarm, the perfect mix of cold and hot with all the same tastiness, just like my Luke…_ she thought inwardly, surprised at her stupidly funny comparison she had made. And after she watched Luke studying her sipping her coffee, his brows furrowed, for a minute of so, she realized that she had finished the cup.

She extended the cup to him, "Oh, look, all out. I really was thirsty… Can I have another cup please?"

Luke stood up without taking the cup from her and began pacing back and forth in front of her, between the counter and her table.

"Luke… coffee? Here's my cup… I know how annoyed you get when you have to do excess cleaning of my many used cups, so here you—"

But Luke cut her off… _Let the ranting begin_, Lorelai thought as she listened to the words begin to flow out of his mouth…

"How can your parents just do that! Allow her to drop out and then let her just waste her time by lounging in the pool house all day! You would think—I mean, they were obsessed with her at Chilton, they were proud of every paper, every article, everything she did there! They cried at her graduation… they paid for it all! They pushed and pushed for her to go to Yale… they paid for that too! They introduced her to plenty of people, trying to help her along! And it was all in the name of education? Ha! Yeah, education my ass! They only cared about marrying her off to some inbred heir with a fancy car and three vacation homes on the east coast…"

_Okay, well, no stopping him now. _Lorelai reclined slightly as she watched him pace. Her eyes were still red from the tears, but the dark indigo they change from "angry tears" slowly seemed to turn to the "love tears" crystal blue color. _He really does care… Well, of course you knew he cared Lorelai, hello! He just listed it all—listed everything he was there for, everything he had some part in. He loves her, you know that. It must break his heart just as much as it does yours to see this happening to… his… Rory._

Apparently, some time during Lorelai's thoughts Luke's rant had slowed down a bit and when she focused back on him. He had his hands on his hips, twisting the tee shirt between his fingers roughly, and the muscles in his neck were tightened severely, forcing his head down to the ground as he paced back and forth in front of her. He was shaking his head and mumbling inaudibly to Lorelai.

Finally he stopped and turned to face her, looking a little less enraged and a little more calmed and in control. He spoke firmly as he explained his plan, but in his voice remained a soft and caring tone, "Okay, here is what we're gonna do. Rory is pissed right now, she is going to be stubborn and reluctant, probably something she gets from seeing the two of us," _Something she, possibly, gets two of us…?_ Lorelai thought, her heart pulsing with love for him when he included himself, making it a 'we' thing, for solving the problem, something which moved her significantly, "We can think of your parents as holding Rory hostage, although she is willingly staying there, so that kind of opposes the whole idea of her being a hostage…" he shakes his head and refocuses on his objective,

"Whatever! Doesn't matter," he says moving his arms to reinforce his meaning,

"Anyways, what do you do with a hostage? You steal them back! So that's what we'll do—we're going to take Rory back, kidnap her if you will, and make her see how much we love her and how important we believe Yale is for her and once she just hears us, I know she'll understand because she knows it… deep down in her heart or behind one of the lobes of her brain or something, where ever it might be… she knows how hard she worked—how hard you worked—all her life to get to where she was. And dropping out is just not going to work—it will throw her all off track and she will end up regretting it!" Luke took a deep, deep breath, running a hand through his hair and readjusting his stance. He felt like he was boring holes through the floor he was standing so firmly.

Lorelai sat on the edge of her seat, her eyes watching him intently. Her look was a mixture of so many she reserved solely for Luke: a look of love, adoration, awe, inspiration, reverence… and so much more. The accumulation of such feelings and emotion for this man gave her a feeling unknown to her.

But Luke hardly noticed the look she was giving him. He continued pacing while explaining his plan, stopping every now and then when he arrived at a particular word to look at her… to reinforce his unfailing commitment to her, "She can stay at the house, she can stay upstairs in the apartment… but she has to stay in this town! Where we can watch her, and then we can take her to classes… because if we just make her live on campus, she'll probably just ditch and drive to New York or to the Hamptons with _Logan_," He spoke the name with pure annoyance and hatred, "and then she'll miss her classes and really be in trouble. But _ohhh_, let me tell you! She will be going to classes! We can take turns driving her, walking her to classes, making sure she's going to them… Although she might get a little pissed and use the fact that we are treating her like a little kid as an excuse for a rebellion…" He stops and thinks of this, before quickly shaking his head and resuming, "Nope! She needs to understand how amazing she can be—how amazing she is! She doesn't need a damn blond hair richie prep to make her a housewife!"

Luke took one final breath and took a few steps closer to Lorelai before crouching in front of her. He saw her eyes glittering with tears. He knew she was not going to cry however, but, _Not to be conceited_ he promised himself, he knew the tears were her "happy Luke tears" he would see every now and then. In fact he was almost positive now that he had seen them a bit earlier on in their conversation.

He took her hands in both of his, still crouching in front of her seat, and spoke sincerely but firmly, hoping to reassure any last uncertainties she had, "You have made her to be so much stronger than that, Lorelai. You are an amazing mother, you have instilled so much strength in her—always assuring her that she can achieve anything, that the world is waiting for her…"

_I am so in love with this man. This wonderfully beautiful man. _However, her smile stayed the same, possibly because of the overwhelming flood of even more emotions she had just received. She continued watching him just as intently as before. He kissed her cheek before rising as she gripped his forearm.

His eyes drifted from hers quickly and spotted the empty coffee cup sitting on the table next to her, "Oh, sorry. You wanted some more coffee," he said reaching for it.

Luke pushed off her knees and went behind the counter to refill the cup. He walked around to _his_ spot behind the counter and focused on the coffee for a moment. To Lorelai, looking at him in that spot, behind the counter, fixing her coffee, with no one else around… well that was just about the most beautiful picture she had ever seen. It was perfect.

_Perfect... Perfection, actually, doesn't apply to us at all. We have our faults, but that's what molds us together at the end of each day. I just cannot fathom doing this without him. I'm sure if he wasn't in my life—and when I say in my life, Lorelai, I mean not even existing, because you know that even if you weren't together, you'd still be here, in his diner, with him right by your side—but if he wasn't around, I'd probably be curled up in bed… or God, still stuck on the side of the road, frozen in my car… He's my guidepost, my rock, my diner man, my coffee supplier… he's everything to me._

She watched him move behind the counter, putting the finishing touches on her coffee. _I don't know how I'd even be able to get up in the morning without him, literally. Even before he was physically getting me out of bed,_ She grinned at this, _for years before he was here, making the coffee for me, pulling me to him. I can't believe I wasted all the time doing… God knows what… and now… Now we are together and its not perfection… just the way we like it. I can't ever lose him again because I know this time, after that damned wedding fiasco, this time I don't think I would be able to survive the torture I went though without him…_

_So this is what I want… the unknown feeling…_ She remembered, referring to the feeling unknown to her before when the sudden accumulation of all those feelings hit her like a massively over the top Visa bill. But she was sure of it now—Lorelai was ready to accept this feeling. She wanted it more than anything, and not just at this moment or for this moment, but since… forever… and for forever. And nothing—not her sudden loss of her best girlfriend, sudden falling out with her daughter, or yet another deceitful act by her parents—none of that influenced the sudden certainty she had for the man standing before her. She loved him, something she had never been so sure of than at this very minute. And that's all that mattered. Her life was starting… now. _Screw single grownup womanhood… I am ready for this, and 'now' is the right time._ She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, and the rest of her life was starting now, at this moment.

Luke, finally done with the coffee, _I put so much damn coffee in this stuff it will probably even rot her iron-clad stomach… she better enjoy it._ Even as Luke tried to convince his conscious that he hated feeding her addiction, he knew he secretly loved the fact that he had the one thing that could win her over at the end of the day… a fact that made him almost forget the crisis at hand.

He made his way over to her, not looking in her eyes until he placed the coffee down on the table… but the coffee went untouched.

"There's your coffee," he told her, but she remained facing him, staring at him with a look he had never seen on her before.

Lorelai's heart was beating faster than ever, if she was not focusing on Luke so intently she probably would have had to reach for a Valium. But she remained secure and steady: _I love him, I need him, I want this forever… Wow I'm doing this… I'm doing this?_

Luke was confused, and slightly freaked out, by Lorelai's fixation on him, rather than the coffee awaiting her only a few inches in the opposite direction. _Why is she looking at me like that_, "What?" He asked quietly, standing a few feet away and looking at her intently with amused eyes.

_I am so doing this_. With a earnest face, filled with hope and sincerity, she asked sincerely, keeping her voice soft "Luke… will you marry me?"

Silence. He tried to form words, but none could be formed. He watched her expression: her eyes glistened with tears, a Mona Lisa type smile played a game on her lips, her look… the look in her eyes…

And then his face could be defined: shocked and confused, but curious. He spoke, just as softly as she had, trying to hold his words without shaking, "Wha—what?"

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******Thanks for reading! Review, review please!**

******A/N:** I was thinking about doing a follow up, basically just episode one, or maybe just the scene following this in ep.1 of the next season… after the damned long hiatus… just to connect it all together. Anyone that has any ideas, or was thinking of doing something following this scene… Oh, I'm sure it will be like the post-R&R fic splurge of 2004, so I wanted to get it done early before the masses and masses of fics exactly like it come out. Either review and leave your email, or email moi: _miqueena(at)mac(dot)com_**  
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